Our two regional managers are asking to share a single Director of Operations seat on our leadership team as a co-leadership model, claiming their skills are perfectly complementary and they work as a single unit. Why is having two names in one seat a recipe for operational disaster, and how do we resolve this?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Having two names in one seat is a violation of a core EOS principle: when two people are accountable, nobody is accountable. Co-leadership models on the Accountability Chart always lead to finger-pointing, communication gaps, and slower decision-making.

Even if these two managers have a phenomenal working relationship, putting both of their names in the Director of Operations seat will confuse the rest of your organization. Your team will not know who has the final say, leading to internal turf wars and duplicated efforts.

To resolve this, you must split the seat. Sit down during your Thinking Time and ask: How might we divide this operational seat so that each manager has absolute, individual accountability for their own results?

You can split the seat in several logical ways:
- Split by geographic territory, creating two distinct Regional Director seats.
- Split by product or service line, giving each manager full accountability for a specific division.
- Split by function, where one manager takes the technical operations seat and the other takes the logistics and scheduling seat.

Each seat must have its own unique set of five roles and its own specific measurables. This allows both managers to shine, gives them clear ownership of their outcomes, and preserves the integrity of your Level 10 Meeting operations.